It started with a message Julian read before I did.

We had both been sitting in silence, late afternoon light stretching across the table. I had been sorting through sketches, nothing formal, just small designs I had no real use for, just to keep my hands moving. Julian had his laptop open, scanning through news updates and internal communications, things he had arranged to be quietly forwarded to us once the trial began. Neither of us spoke much that day. The hearing had ended, but the noise ...